Clouds - Today's Magic

I got all inspired by comments from George and Eric about photography and tripods. I located one of my tripods (I have at least two left over from when my kids liked to make VHS movies). The key points are that it is fairly lightweight and it has all of its’ parts. I got everything ready to go last night just like a little kid laying out her clothes for the first day of school. I did prepare myself for the likely scenario – that with a storm moving in, there might well be clouds instead of a glorious sunrise. An early morning look out the window revealed only scattered clouds but by the time I hit the trail, the cloud cover was 100%. So the theme for today is clouds. There was not even a hint of a pink glow in this morning’s sunrise.

I was sore from yesterday, but don’t you think sometimes it is good to do a light workout when you are sore? As I write this, I am no longer sore – so today’s hike helped to relieve yesterday’s soreness. I was thinking about this subject as I hiked. As you get older, it is only natural to get tired more easily and to have more aches and pains as things wear out. BUT I also know that inactivity makes me tired and sore (be honest – don’t you feel stiff and tired after too long a session in front of the computer?) SO, I would rather be tired from activity then tired from boredom and inactivity. I fully intend to completely wear out my body before I die. I don’t understand the idea of saving things for later to make them last longer. Haven’t you been in the house of someone who leaves the plastic wrap on his or her lampshades? I would rather have direct contact with life – dust, bugs, cobwebs, splatters, whatever. Don’t separate me from life.

I learned another aspect of photography and tripods etc. You have to take your gloves off to adjust everything – and man is that cold! The clouds hanging over the divide were fascinating, swirling, expanding, contracting, the front range and high peaks constantly appearing and disappearing.

This is what I want out of life – to keep having these ‘does it get any better than this’ or what I also call OMG moments. They don’t need to be anything exotic like trips to Tahiti. They can be the beauty of ANY sunrise, the funny look my cat gets on his face when he is about to be mischievous, the anticipation of a good cup of coffee (or tea!) after my morning hike, that somewhat rare glimmer of understanding between my son (either one!) and myself, and the list goes on. Many people keep life lists of things they want to do before they die. I’m not knocking this at all – I admire their determination and vision. But if I made a life list, it would consist of millions of little everyday things. I find myself so drawn to these magical little moments, is it any wonder that I often get off the path of that big important goal – now what was that goal I was working on???